Here’s an iphone quickie for the weekend - Mint.com, the personal finance site (that’s awesome) has launched an iPhone app today. Technically, it went up yesterday, but for some reason, you couldn’t find it in the app store until today. Anyhow, it’s on the store, and is very handy for checking your account balances and investments on the fly. I had some issues with the data being 2-3 hours old, even when I told it to refresh the data (and could see the latest data right there on the Web site), but as a whole, it’s a very nice tool to keep handy. Just remember - it’s a good bet to password protect your iPhone if you’re going to have any personal finance info on it.

I’ve been quiet lately as I’ve been on vacation (though sneaking some work in, courtesy of Google Docs, Zoho and Gmail), but I wanted to make a quick note about the 2.2 firmware update being available for both the iPhone and iPod Touch today. The 200+ MB update is available now (and downloading to my Touch as we “speak”). From The Unofficial Apple Weblog, here are some of the new features -

“The update contains enhancements to Mail, fixes connection issues with WPA-secured wireless networks, improves Safari stability, and includes a new preference to turn off auto-correction for typing.

Also, podcasts are now available for download from within the iTunes app, and pressing the Home button from any home screen will now take you to the first home screen.”

As I mentioned before, I’m a Blackberry guy, while Ted is an iPhone guy. I cruise through many of the Blackberry sites on a daily basis and I stumbled upon this rumor, that would absolutely make my day.

While I love the iPhone touch screen, I absolutely hate typing on it — and I type a LOT on my blackberry (texts, emails, messenger, etc.). So I heard about the new "Storm," which is an iPhone like device by Blackberry, but no keyboard. Not gonna cut it with me. But then this rumor about a Berry code-named "Magnum" being shown at WES 2009 that has a touchscreen AND a keyboard.

I have to admit that I’m addicted to the App store for iPhone (though I just have an iPod Touch.) Not a day goes by that I don’t check in to see what’s new and cool. With that in mind, here are a few apps I use and find incredibly useful -

iNote - A replacement for the built-in note taking application, iNote offers one major advantage: landscape entry mode. It’s so much easier to flip your iPhone on its “side” and use the wide keyboard to input notes. From there, just like the Notes app, you can save and/or email your noted. This was handy on a recent press tour when I decided to pass on bringing a paper notebook, and ended up with 15 pages of notes on my Touch. I just emailed them to my work email, and had them all set to add to a Word doc later.

Air Sharing - While once free, it’s now $6.99, but worth it if you need to carry files and docs around. Air Sharing turns your device into a WiFi hard drive so you can store a huge variety of files and view them right over your WiFi network. I tried several alternatives such as “Files” and “Datacase” and always come back to Air Sharing.

SugarSync - This app gives you access to files shared in your SugarSync file syncing account on your home PCs. First, head over to SugarSync.com, and set up a free account. Then, choose what folders to sync between SugarSync.com and your other PC’s (installing the app on all your other PC’s of course). This creates a private peer-to-peer network between them all. Then install the iPhone app, and you’ll have access to all those files without storing them on your iPhone.

A really handy feature is “Send this file to:”, which lets you pick a file and have a link to it emailed to someone else. This was a big help after a recent remote meeting with an editor - I needed to get him a digital press kit, so I logged into SugarSync on my Touch, and had it emailed to him in an instant.

WordPress - Need to post a quick entry to one of your Wordpress blogs? Here’s the app for you. It’s quick and simple to set up, and gets the job done.

So my wife, not unlike most wives, is probably tired of the usual frantic morning battle-cry of the desperate husband — "Honey!!! Have you seen my (insert keys/watch/ring/wallet)?"

I’m currently searching through my home office and my bedroom looking for my wedding ring that the cat probably decided would make a fine toy to play with on the hardwood floors. Now if I had THIS little gadget lovers dream, maybe I’d still have my ring!

The aptly named Sanctuary (or it’s long name of "The Sanctuary Power Charging Station and Desk Valet") is a haven for charging your phone, iPod, etc., as well as a place for your keys and wallet. I have cords running all over around my desk for my Blackberry and iPod, and my wallet and keys are often on another corner of the desk (along with the missing ring). So this seems like it would be a godsend to me. Might have to pick one of these puppies up!